It is with great pleasure that Filcasa Inc. is announcing the beginning of a new project in partnership with the New Horizons Seniors Program. FILCASA has provided our seniors with affordable housing and is known for offering camaraderie through the presence of other seniors in the complex. FILCASA’s mandate would like to transition into a community that offers services to our seniors and all those who are interested in enhancing the lives of our seniors. Through New Horizons we have been given the opportunity to create a program designed to help seniors learn from our youth about technology and the society that our younger generation live in. The program would like to generate a group of youth volunteers who will come in on a regular basis to help seniors navigate through a computer or help them with on-line applications. The program will incorporate nights that will be designed to focus on specific events where seniors can sit down with youth and tell them a story about our culture. The youth will give the seniors an option on how they would like their story documented. Release of information forms will be signed by all participants in the program. Youth will then give participants the option to blog the story, have the story typed in word and printed as a document, written up in a story book with Publisher, or create a PowerPoint or slideshow of the story that the participants would like to document. The program will also focus on teaching the seniors about how to use a digital camera or a video camera.

Due to the accessibility of the facility to the seniors, this program will provide the opportunity to come out and enjoy the company of other seniors, youth and community members. This program will focus on activities that the seniors within the housing development have requested which in turn will reduce their risk of isolation.

Activities that will be implemented at the FILCASA Seniors home will be a completely different aspect of programming for the Filipino community. As we continue to develop this program we hope to involve seniors from the surrounding community and involve other organizations that are interested in partnering with the FILCASA Seniors. There has never been structured programming specifically targeted for seniors and youth to come together on any level within the Filipino community. The Filipino Seniors have never had a program that was focused on learning how to use the many different types of technology that our generation lives by, technology such as emails, internet, instant messaging, text messaging, amateur radio operation, or even something as simple as how to use a digital camera or video camera. Youth Engaging Seniors (Y.E.S) would enhance the lives of seniors within the community and teach them the “basics” in this new era. Youth Engaging Seniors (Y.E.S) will also provide an opportunity for seniors and youth to communicate and learn from each other, as well as providing an opportunity for both seniors and youth alike to learn more of the issues that each generation may struggle with. Youth Engaging Seniors (Y.E.S) will provide the opportunity to learn about empathy and understanding of generations.

FILCASA Inc. would like to invite you to join us on March 2nd,2010 from 5-7 at FILCASA Housing, 442 William Ave., Luzon Hall for the Open House of the Y.E.S. program. The program will run continuously every Tuesday and Thursday at Luzon Hall from 5-7. We welcome all volunteers and participants. For more information please contact Leilani Villarba (Coordinator) @ 990-4506 or Floriano Tonelete (President of Filcasa) @ 949-9398 .